This invention pertains to braided cable and, in particular, braided cable having a terminated end and a method of terminating the end of a braided cable via solidification.
Braided cables are used for many applications including carrying current within or between electrical equipment. The use of braided cable to carry current is generally used due to the flexibility of the cable which allows bending of the cable in multiple orientations due to the braided arrangement of the cable. Also, the use of annealed copper in the braided cable is common which also provides for flexibility. However, the use of the braided cable is disadvantageous due to the multiple exposed fibers at the ends of the braided cable. The unfinished ends of a braided cable cannot be readily attached to a current receiving or providing apparatus. Attempts to braze an unfinished braided cable end directly to an apparatus are likely to fail because the widely spaced fibers of the braided cable will wick all of the brazing material into the braided cable reducing the flexibility of the cable.
Prior methods of finishing or terminating the ends of braided cables in order to allow the brazing of the ends of the cables to apparatus include attaching a ferrule over the end of the braided cable. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 994,818, the ferrule was generally a metal or copper sleeve which was placed over and compacted to the end. The use of a ferrule to terminate a braided cable is inefficient and difficult to accomplish. The additional ferrule part increases the cost of the terminated cable and requires special machinery to compact the ferrule to the end of the cable. The use of a ferrule also provides a cable with excess resistivity which reduces the desired current flow in the braided cable. Further, the ferrule after compaction has gaps between the ferrule and the cable which further reduce the voltage carded by the cable and are required to be filled in with solder paste or other material.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,922,072 and 3,333,083, describe the welding of insulated wires. Other methods of terminating cables included sonic welding which have the disadvantage that the terminated ends degrade and do not allow for adequate attachment of the cable to a substrate or apparatus. Such prior art welding methods fail to take into account modern welding equipment and the great advantages gained therefrom in providing an improved solidified braided cable which is quickly and easily formed having a lack of voiding areas, is water-proof, sustaining no physical degradation after sustaining gmat pull forces, vibration and torquing and providing inconsequential voltage drops.
A new and improved terminated braided cable is provided by the present invention which avoids the need to attach a ferrule or other crimping device and allows the terminated braided cable to be attached directly to apparatus with improved current conduction and cost savings.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a braided cable which may be successfully attached to apparatus without the use of additional parts to terminate the cable.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a braided cable which may be terminated quickly and inexpensively.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a braided cable which is terminated in a manner which provides a limited voltage drop.
It is a another object of the present invention to provide a braided cable which provides for minimal water absorption.
It is further object of the present invention to provide a terminated end portion having maximum mechanical strength.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a braided cable in which solder will not wick beyond end portions of the cable.